10 Lottery Winners Who Blew Through Their Money

Congratulations, you're a lottery winner!

No doubt upon hearing those words most lottery winners imagine that winning the lottery will solve all of their financial problems and that they will never have to worry about money, or the lack of it, again.

Sadly, that is more often than not the case.

Lottery Winners Who Went Broke

16 year old Brit Callie Rogers (pictured top and below) was too young to handle her 2003 U.K. lottery win, cashing in her nearly 3 million dollar ticket. Rogers attached herself to a dead end boyfriend, had two children and partied, gifted and loaned her money right back into poverty. Presently, she works as cleaning lady and is facing bankruptcy.

Alex and Rhoda Toth struck gold with a $13 million dollar jackpot in 1990 and were completely destitute a mere fifteen years later. Alex died before being tried for tax evasion, but Rhoda served two years in prison.

In 1999, Gerald Muswagon won Canada's $10 million Super 7 jackpot. Gerald reportedly drank and partied his way through his winnings and was broke 7 years later. In 2005, he hung himself in his parent's garage.

Welsh born Luke Pittard won a £1.3 million jackpot, but was flipping burgers in McDonald's a mere year and a half later. Pittard spent his winnings on a trip to the Canary Islands, a wedding and a house.

When Denise Rossi won $1.3 million in a California lottery, she kept it secret and immediately filed for divorce. Upon learning of her jackpot, her ex-husband successfully sued her for half.

Lottery Winners Who Lost it All

In 1989, Willie Hurt of Michigan cashed in a $3.1 million dollar lottery ticket. Two years later he was divorced, lost custody of his children, faced attempted murder charges and developed a cocaine habit, which sucked up the rest of his fortune.

Americo Lopes won the New Jersey lottery and then claimed that he needed foot surgery and left his job. Come to find out, Lopes was part of a syndicate with his co-workers and hadn't shared the winnings. Lucky for them, a judge made him.

Janite Lee, a wig maker from New Jersey, hit the jackpot with an $18 million dollar ticket, but was broke 10 years later. Lee gave most of her winnings away.

In 2002 Michael Carroll was at his peak, having won Britain's £9.7 million jackpot. Carroll reportedly spent his money recklessly on houses, cars, partying and hookers. Five years later the former garbage man was asking for his old job back.

Evelyn Adams of New Jersey was so lucky she hit the jackpot not once but twice, totaling $5.4 million. She gambled it all away in Atlantic City and now makes her home in a trailer park.

In 1962 Vivian Nicholson won Britain's football pool, a tidy £152,300, but her taste for the good life—and her haute couture wardrobe—quickly depleted her bank account.

No doubt these lottery winners thought that they'd be moving off of Hard Knock Drive over to Easy Street, but that was clearly not the case.